We visited the Monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza a few years ago, but it was closed. This time we made sure we arrived in opening hours.
The road to the monastery
A quiet country road leads from Lerma to Covarrubias, and on to the monastery. It starts off through fields along the Arlanza River. The wheat has been harvested and so at this time of year the fields are golden and it is very beautiful, particularly if the sky is blue.
But beyond Covarrubias the hills rise, and there are dramatic gorges. The monastery is in the Sierra de las Mamblas, which are apparently a ‘hanging syncline’ – quite beyond me, I regret. Birds of prey inhabit the cliffs, including the golden eagle. We saw the birds on our last visit as well.
A little further on an old stone bridge crosses the river and we stopped to look. Autumn crocuses were everywhere and it was quiet and pretty amongst the holm oaks and junipers. Then we arrived at the monastery, remote and hidden away in a sunken valley.
A brief history of the Monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza
Count Gonzalo Téllez and his wife Doña Lambra, founded the Benedictine monastery on January 12, 912. They were buried in the church but the sarcophagi were moved to the Collegiate Church of San Cosmos and San Damian in Covarrubias when the monasteries were dissolved by Mendizabal in the 1830s. Much like the Dissolution of the Monasteries in England, the state wanted the church’s wealth. The monks left in 1841 and in 1890 a fire completed the destruction of the building.1
The Church
The church had three naves and was vast, and at the far end was a rose window. The tops of the columns are carved with fantastical figures, but they are badly eroded. (More information here.)
The monks were buried in the church and you can see their gravestones under your feet. It feels sad here and if you stand still and listen you can feel their spirits around you, and hear their voices. It isn’t a deserted site at all, but it is a sad site.
The Cloister
As always, the main cloister is grand; the small cloister was closed off, perhaps for renovation. And once murals covered the walls.
Chapter House
The monks gathered daily in the Chapter House to hear a chapter from the Rule of St Benedict. It has a beautiful domed ceiling and scallop shells in the alcoves.
The setting
Cliffs and forest surround the monastery. And the Hermitage of San Pelayo looks down from the mountaintop.
The Monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza hides away in the mountains near Lerma, and is a haunting and beautiful place.
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